Rock Band UK release date set

Rock Band is set for a Xbox 360 release on May 23rd in the UK, with PS3 versions following later.

Electronic Arts has finally set a UK release date for the rock band simulator game, Rock Band. The publisher has also revealed that the game will launch on the Xbox 360 first, with the PlayStation formats to follow after an unspecified interim.

The UK version of Rock Band will launch on the Xbox 360 on May 23rd. PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2 versions of the game have only been given a tentative "summer" release according to EA - a move which is bound to leave Sony smarting a little bit.

The game is highly anticipated in the UK, especially since it went on sale last November in North America and news on a UK version has been slow to trickle out. The game has proven very popular though, winning excellent reviews and selling over six million song packs according to GI.biz.

Electronic Arts has yet to reveal the official RRP for the UK version of the game, but you can expect it to be a hefty price tag - the game comes bundled with all the hardware required to play the game, including a drum kit peripheral.

When the game is released in the UK then you can expect to see some new songs popping up too though - Electronic Arts has confirmed that it will launch nine new songs for the game as part of the UK release, with more tracks coming from May 27th onwards. Individual songs are priced at 160 MS points each.

So, are you ready to rock, or do you think Rock Band is a one hit wonder? Let us know in the forums!

My theory is lack of peripheral supplies. For a start, the original rock band hardware was shoddy, so they signed up Mad Catz to make it, so I'm guessing they had to get production ramped up with them in order to meet demand in the US and to make a stockpile of hardware for Europe so they had enough for launch day.

Originally Posted by Juppun£180 is too much. At least retailers should offer it cheaper, bundled even. Well, I hope so anyways. The additional "exclusive" tracks are a joke though. A measley extra 4 tracks? F**k off.

They'll be available to download in the US on the same day most likely, so they're pointless.

Even £140 from Play is really too much. If you convert straight from the US SRP of $170 into GBP and add VAT, it comes out at around £100.

For EA to charge £180 is a total rip-off, and I'd love to see their reasoning behind such a high price - after all, I'm sure the instruments are made in China, and shipping to Europe can't be that different to shipping to the US? And I'm fairly sure that EU licences for the music won't have bumped the price by £80.

This might go down in history as one of the least successful game launches in history...

That's freaking ridiculous! Just import it guys, considering you're paying almost as much as I did when it launched in Canada in your own money. (I payed $192.31, AND I ordered it online, so shipping + handling)